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GTK | JACKSON BRADSHAW

Jackson Bradshaw is a man of many talents. His graphic design and animation work gets him jobs and makes him Vine famous, his filming and editing are always high quality, he’s the mastermind behind FOAD, and our favorite of all, he fucking kills it on a bike. Here’s the first of our new “GTK” (Get To Know) Interview series.

So lets get right in to this. What got you into FGFS and how long have you been riding?

Jackson: “I was introduced to fixed gear by Sam Allgood back in 2007. Bombing hills and doing tarck tricks on a shitty Bianchi conversion. We used to ride almost everyday after school, it was a ton of fun. Pretty much the same group of dudes that we ride with today.

I wasn’t that into the trick side of things until around 2011, riding Evan Service’s Destroy Masochist, it felt more familiar and fun to ride than a BMX. Seeing what other people were doing at that time really made me want to get into it.”

One of Jackson’s first solo edits in 2012

You have one of the most technical styles in the game and do things nobody would even think about at normal looking spots. Where do you draw your inspiration from?

Jackson: “Watching other people I’ve always been stoked on tricks that were different or surprising. When I started out riding, I wasn’t as good as some of the other dudes, so I tried stuff that everybody else wasn’t doing. Boring spots and riding parking lots are also a good source for creativity.”

Jackson: “There’s a few different meanings behind FOAD. Fixies On Astro Dirt. Feed Our Adorable Dolphins. Friends Of the American Dinosaur. My favorite might be one that was presented to me recently by my homie Connor Cook: Focused On Achieving Dreams.”

Any music you’ve been jamming to lately? Either riding related or not.

You’ve been working on a new full length for the FOAD crew called “The Good Times Are Killing Me”. Hows that coming, who’s in it, and when can we expect to see it finishing up?

Jackson: “The Good Times Are Killing Me is coming along great. It’s going to be our last full length video, so I am really trying to step it up a notch. It’s going to be a bit different than “Gang Signs” and other traditional full lengths. Fixed freestyle is the primary focus of the video, but we’re also expanding outwards and taking some different directions. The hardest part has been with so many of the FOADies being injured, Parker Thompson with a severe accident last June, Izik Service tore his ACL, and Chase Davis got shoulder surgery last week. In terms of who’s going to be in the video, I really want to include as many people in the video as possible. I’m going down to Arizona next week to film with the guys down there, and I want to make it out to California and Seattle before we’re all done. If anyone wants to come out to Salt Lake, I’d love to host. I’m dropping the trailer next week and hoping to premiere the video at the end of the summer.”

Jackson: “Barcelona was amazing. I grew up skateboarding, and being able to go there to ride and film is a dream. Spain is amazing, and the spots are unbelievable. Every day we’d have a few spots that we wanted to go to, but we’d always find something cool on the way. It was great to see Antonyo Wothe back on his bike. Pedro Oliveira came up from Portugal, he lived in Barcelona for 6 months and showed us around, which was awesome.”

Jackson eyeing up a spot in Barcelona (Photoset coming when the web edit drops)

What’s the riding scene like in Salt Lake? What’s a typical day of riding consist of over there?

Jackson: “There’s a pretty big cycling scene out here, but we’re the only ones pushing FGFS. Salt Lake is awesome though, we get support from pretty much everyone, BMXers, skateboarders, track dudes. It’s not like other places where it’s super competitive, we’re all just a bunch of weirdos, even if we are riding different things. Lately it’s been hard to ride anything besides covered parking garages because of the winter. But now that’s it been getting warmer we’ve been able to get out and ride more. Typically we meet up at and try to go to a new spot, or do something different at an old one. We’ve pretty much explored and ridden everything that Salt Lake has to offer. I’m always on the lookout for new things to ride.”

“Introducing FOAD” Team edit from 2011

Favorite kind of spots to ride?

Jackson: “I think probably manual pads or ledges. I always like stuff that’s a little more jibby as opposed to gnarly. Sometimes the spot inspires the trick, and other times I’ve got an idea of something, and have to find the spot for it. I’m always interested in riding different spots, it’s what keeps it interesting, the whole world is open to interpretation in a way that the rest of the world doesn’t see.”

Any last words / shoutouts?

Jackson: “Shout out to Suck My Cog, for keeping fixed gear content alive and well. Blogging and creating content is hard, and I truly appreciate what it does to bring this community together. Shout out to the rest of the FOAD dudes for making Good Times happen, bikes are what brought us together. Johnathan Ball, Matt Spencer, and Matt Reyes for making awesome things happen in front of and behind the camera. John Prolly for ditching fixed gear to become a trendy texan. Ruff Bike Co for making awesome products and putting me on. Flynn Cyclery for keeping it trill in the SLC. Evan Service for always being down to ride/not ride. My family and everyone else for not understanding what the fuck I’m doing but supporting me anyways. Everyone out there that’s riding their bike. We’re all in it for the same reason, to have fun on a bike. Keep shredding and pushing this. Even though fixed gear freestyle is such a small thing, there’s so many awesome people involved and I love every single experience, bike trip, and person that I’ve met along the way.”

Huge thanks to Jackson for being down for this interview. More to come, let us know who you want interviewed next.